Essential Excerpts: Child Care Quotes From The Hill

As we monitored hearings on Capitol Hill this week, it was striking to see how many of them featured the issue of child care. From the House Appropriations Committee to the Senate HELP Committee, to the Senate Finance Committee, child care was top of mind.

Below are some key takeaways we heard from lawmakers on why child care and early learning are so important to families and building an economy that works for everyone. 

1. Quality child care and early learning sets kids up for success

“Many Americans rely on some form of child care, which not only allows parents to remain in the workforce, but also provides children with critical social and educational development opportunities. Unfortunately, for some families, child care is either unaffordable or unavailable.” – Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID)

“There’s no better investment in our future than an investment in childcare, to help mamas and daddies get to work and to give our babies a strong start.” – Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)

“I have a daughter, a son, and four grandchildren. And one of the things that is a regular point of conversation in our family is education, and child care.” Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)

2. Parents need child care to be able to work

“We recognize that when it comes to families and their ability to go to work, if there is not affordable child care, or if there is no child care whatsoever, it makes it pretty darn hard.” – Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

“Families need more help to grow and get ahead, and child care is an essential part of getting that done. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this committee to make it happen.” – Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)

“Without child care, parents have to make rough decisions, tough decisions for them leave to move someplace else or unable to participate in the workforce.” – Senator John Barrasso (R-WY)

“Finding solutions to improve affordability of childcare is very much an overall workforce issue.” – Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

3. Families rely on federal support for child care and early learning

“Programs like Child Care and Development Block Grant and Headstart are really a lifeline for working parents.” – Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)

“We recognize that child care is one of the two biggest items in a family’s budget with 7% of a family’s annual household income going into it in Alaska. It’s much worse than that, families pay an average of just about $1,000 a month for childcare.” – Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

4. Congress Is Seeking Solutions.

“There is a big opportunity in 2025 to use the tax code to help families on a host of fronts.”  – Senator Bob Casey (D-PA)

“As Congress considers opportunities to increase access to child care, we must carefully evaluate existing programs to understand what works and why gaps persist.” – Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID)

5. Child care providers and educators need support. 

“So bottom line, we need more supply. But providers and their staff are living paycheck to paycheck, barely able to keep their doors open, much less, add more slots, and lower the fees that they charge to the families in their communities.” – Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)

“It has to be a long term strategy that we need to consider to develop child care as a career to ensure that we have trained, credible, available, and hopefully affordable child care providers for our kids so that families can go out and access these jobs.” – Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

“Child care providers in my state are struggling to pay staff living wages, which has an impact on keeping those doors open. And along with the staffing issues that we’ve talked about is the issue of ensuring we provide them those necessary wages.” – Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV)

Bottom Line: There is bipartisan agreement that federal investments in child care and early learning benefit kids, families, caregivers, and the economy. This busy week in Washington is just one indicator that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are seeing and experiencing the child care challenges faced by families and must come together to provide solutions.